I made a bit a snafu at SBTB HQ and asked about a Rec League that we already ran (last September to be exact). But interestingly, we had some different suggestions than the previous time, so why not run it again and include some new, updated titles or ones we may have missed the first time.
You can peep the original Rec League request from author Maria Vale here!
Sarah: It has been far too long since I read this book, but my brain is suggesting Naked Edge by Pamela Clare ( A | BN | K | G | AB ), which is about investigative journalists trying to protect Native American land. I think there are environmental elements but I could be mis-remembering.
Nikki Logan wrote A Kiss to Seal the Deal, ( A | BN | K | AB ) which I remember because the title is a pun: the heroine is a…seal researcher trying to protect endangered species.
Which was the recent suspense novel with a heroine who protects turtles at an oil dig site, and the hero who is a crew supervisor? (Note: Can we identify what this one is?!)
Lightning That Lingers ( A | BN | K | AB ) is a classic by the late Sharon and Tom Curtis – the hero is an earth scientist I believe.
Judi Fennell’s paranormal series features an activist mermaid in Catch of a Lifetime. ( A | BN | K | AB )
Oh – the Trent series. Natural History of Dragons and the rest of the series – Lady Trent studies dragons. Maybe that doesn’t quite fit the ask, though.
Lara: I have one! Melissa Volker’s Shadow Flicker ( A ) has a wind farm situation, but I think all her novels have an environmental angle.
Which books would you recommend? Let us know below!
I commented on the previous post, but have some more ideas:
– Sweet by Tammara Webber: Pearl is starting a PhD in marine biology and is interested in conservation.
– Something Like Normal by Trish Doller: Harper, the love interest in this single-POV NA novel, is also interested in marine biology and conservation.
– Rachel Grant’s romantic suspense titles often feature archeologists who spend a lot of time outdoors and care about the environment. These include Incriminating Evidence, Cold Evidence (the hero is a marine biologist), the Fiona Carver books (the hero is a wildlife photographer), and Into the Storm.
– The Spire by Kate Canterbary: Erin is a researcher doing something related to global warming IIRC.
– Glenna and Cash from Against a Wall by Cate C. Wells are outdoor enthusiasts, and Cash notes that they are both into wildlife conservation but for different reasons (she’s a photographer, he’s a hunter).
“Sick Puppy” by Carl Hiaasen, while not a romance, deals with characters addressing (in various quirky ways) environmental issues revolving around the Florida Everglades. Most of his books feature Florida’s threatened nature as plot points, and tend to be quite funny and satirical. However, some of Hiassen’s books can come with trigger warnings, so it may be good to check out each title before jumping in.
Kaye Draper’s “Kraken the Case” is the first book in a series about an Environmental Police Agency enforcer working on a criminal case in Florida. There’s shapeshifters, magic, tons of interpersonal relationships, found family, and “characters with gender fluidity, non-binary/intersex characters, gender bending/gender swap, gray ace, and any other orientation you can think of may appear in this series”. I cannot recommend it enough.
Bold Fortune by MM Crane has an environmental scientist heroine that goes to Alaska to discuss land use with the local land owners. Lots of the conflict between the H/h has to do with the environmental impact of land rights.
This is why I think rec leagues should be rerun. I’ve seen comments expressing the same sentiment.
Kelly St Clare’s Shifter Wars Werewolf Dens series has a background of conservation, which works into the storyline along and along. Don’t want to say much cause it’s best discovering as you read.
Of Octopuses and Men by Misha Bell features a marine biologist with very specific kinks and a family with serious boundary issues. I assume the author has indulged in Too Much Internet because the book opens with the MC’s grandmother watching hentai. You have been warned.
SOMETHING BORROWED by Eve Dangerfield has an environmentalist heroine.
OG requester Maria Vale’s Legend of All Wolves series always gets me in my feelings about conservation. The threat is presented with an immediacy that’s often missing from more bromidic discourse.
**The wildlife biologist heroine who rescues turtles from construction sites is from BREATH THE SKY by Michelle Hazen. Great podcast episode too!
Bend Toward the Sun by Jen Devon has a heroine who is a botanist working on her post-doc. She takes a job at a run down winery that a family is trying to salvage. The book isn’t specifically environmental, but a big focus in the book is all about the plants, digging in the earth, and trying to renew the winery. The writing made me want to go out and plant my own garden.
Along the same lines, I recently finished The Holiday Trap by Roan Parrish. The two protagonists swap houses for the holidays like in the movie The Holiday. One of them is from Maine and raises carnivorous plants, mainly indoors, because the Maine climate is so inhospitable to her “babies”. She swaps with a guy from New Orleans and is absolutely blown away by the tropical environment. She becomes friends with a group of older gardeners as well as a beekeeper and realizes she and her plants would be so much happier there.
Warrior by Elizabeth Lowell has a heroine who is a wildlife biologist. However it’s from 1991, and I read it ages ago, so the content or attitudes could be dated. I do recall that the heroine has outdoor skills and is comfortable going into the wilderness alone.
Toni Anderson’s The Killing Game (romantic suspense)is about tracking endangered snow leopards…
Charmed Wolf by Aimee Easterling – (m/f) urban fantasy, the female main character and her pack are trying to create a biodegradable form of glitter that’s better for the environment
The Fire’s Stone by Tanya Huff – (m/m/f) fantasy, what the big bad is doing is killing the land, they are trying to heal/restore it
Full House by Susan Hayes – (m/f) scifi, the male main character lives alone on a planet, the female main character has been forced into work surveying planets for a mining company. The two try to figure out a way to save his planet.